Thank you all for your feedback, I have decided to go with Way of the Openhand , so no magic is involved. What do you think of takibng a Level of Rogue and when would you do it?
Depends on what you are taking the level of rogue for. Just remember that sneak attack does not work with unarmed strikes or monk weapons that don’t already have the finesse property (the martial arts feature doesn’t count).
A level of rogue isn't terribly useful. 2 levels for cunning action or 3 for a subclass might be worthwhile, and possibly help conserve ki points by giving you free abilities and other resources for a mostly straight monk character.
Honestly, after 7 levels of monk there isn't a lot of new stuff coming your way. I might stick it out for the ASI at level 8, or keep up if I really want Quivering Palm at level 17.
But I know I'd be tempted to start multi-classing like crazy at level 5 or 6. Take 4 or so levels of Fighter for Battle Master maneuvers, action surge, and a fighting style. Take a bunch of Rogue Mastermind levels for Sneak Attack and some Batman like abilities. Maybe even dip Ranger for some spells and early class features.
Thats just me though, I assume I won't get those super late campaign abilities and I like hoarding effects and buttons to push earlier in the campaign.
Honestly, after 7 levels of monk there isn't a lot of new stuff coming your way. I might stick it out for the ASI at level 8, or keep up if I really want Quivering Palm at level 17.
I disagree with this. From my experience, once monks hit level 8 or 9, ki starts becoming less of a thing you need to worry about conserving. You can do something with it basically every turn and still hit a short rest with a few left over. Also I found that evasion was really strong. I didn't care if a fireball got dropped on me because i probably not going to take damage from it. Even if I did, it'd only be half and probably hurt the enemies a whole lot more. Stillness of mind should have been a bonus action but it's not awful when you need it. Unarmored movement improvement can be a lot of fun and is definitely good for exploration or engaging an enemy that would otherwise be hard to get to. 11 gets you a small buff to your unarmed strikes which is nice. Tongue of the Sun and Moon can be great and a lot of fun. You don't have the persuasion or social skills but you can literally talk to anything that knows any language. It can be worth trying to persuade that elemental from leaving you alone. When it works, you're a hero. Situational and probably could have come earlier, but it's a nice feature. If you make it to 13, you're going to LOVE 14. Diamond soul is amazing and basically turns you into the best anti-caster character in the game. You can get in their face better than any character and shrug off spells unbelievably well.
Monk damage does kinda plateau around level 11 which is unfortunate. A lot of that has to do with the major lack of magic items and feats that augment unarmed strikes. Crusher could be great if you have an odd constitution though. Mage slayer was fun on my monk to lean even harder into that FU casters role. Monks are just missing that feat like sharpshooter or great weapon master though. Those feats just make characters so much stronger and the monk misses those. That's honestly the biggest issue. ONE DND is currently nerfing those feats and honestly it's much needed. Every character ever takes them if they can and it's kinda boring. Without those, Monks damage is comparatively pretty decent.
Your ki pool also goes further if you have other features to spam. Like not needing to use step of the wind because you have cunning action.
I don't know why you name Evasion and Stillness of Mind at all, since I said you get great stuff up till the level where you get those features.
Diamond Soul is nice, but you have to take 6 levels where you get very little in class features. Tongue of Sun and Moon could be occasionally useful, but its basically the equivalent of a spell most casters could get back 9 levels before, which usually bodes poorly for a feature's usefulness. Most classes are front loaded, but that 8-14 section for monks is just an especially bland period, and 15+ is pretty lack luster too.
Im not sure about monk damage comparing even if we take out GWM and Sharpshooter. Maybe the shallow end of the same pool. But that is really getting into munchking territory. Im more just saying I'd get bored if most of what my character could do was more or less the same at level 7 as it was at level 20.
Looking forward to monk getting some love in One DND, beyond just nerfing some OP feats.
I thought you were advocating skipping 7 too. My bad.
8-13 does get a little stale. It's tricky though. If you're level 7, ASI at 8. If you're 8, a super fun ability at 9. Go that far, you're only 2 levels away from a subclass feature and d8s on your attacks. All while getting more Ki. Make it to 11, 12 is another ASI. Make it to 12, Diamond Soul is only 2 levels away. Sure, you could get a few sneak attack dice by skipping all that, but it's a tradeoff and that really comes down to preference. (granted, not all 11 abilities are good though, so it might be easier to skip for some).
In general I don't hate monks as much as most people. I think they can be a ton of fun and Tasha's adding Ki Fueled attack and Focused Aim made up some of the ground. They work very well together. Miss? Spend a Ki and hit (potentially - I wouldn't abuse this until higher levels though). Now you can make another weapon attack as a bonus action. Better mathematically then just using the point to FOB.
I agree more needs to happen and hope Monks get good things from ONE DND. I'd love to see less reliance on Ki in subclass features. I'd love to see Tongue of the Sun and Moon move down into the single digits and add an unarmed feat and some items. Maybe even nerf stunning strike to once per turn but make it a wisdom save. That'd open up options for adding power elsewhere.
Im not sure about monk damage comparing even if we take out GWM and Sharpshooter. Maybe the shallow end of the same pool. But that is really getting into munchking territory.
Pretty easy calculation. Assume a Fighter with great sword vs a Monk with a literally whatever doesn't matter.
Fighter - 6d6+15 - 36 average
Monk - 4d8+20 - 38 (with Flurry of Blows) 29 without, but at level 11 you can do it every round for 11 rounds. Never had a fight last that long.
Fighters tend to get a bit more damage from their subclasses than monks do so they'll likely pull a bit ahead. They also get action surge. Assume a battle master using all the superiority die to add damage and action surge, over 11 rounds, the Fighter will do about 5-10% more damage. That's probably the best subclass to up the damage but I dunno it's late. The tradeoff is Monks can do a ton of other stuff rather than swing a sword and are the kings and queens of mobility.
One big difference is the cool magic sword the fighter has he can use 3 times in his attacks where the Monk can only use it twice. There aren't many official items that make unarmed attacks better. If you figure GWM, Fighter pulls well ahead, especially if both characters can reliably get advantage. Monks lack a feat like that.
There is one outlier though. The Kensei ranged monk is one character that can take sharpshooter and will do bonkers damage. All because of Ki-Fueled attack and deft strike. 3 attacks starting at level 6 (although only 6 times). This monk would pull well ahead of the battlemaster until 11 when the kensei would only be slightly ahead (I think, haven't done math). 20 fighter would pull ahead probably though. That's just one specific monk build that is kinda nutty though.
Im more just saying I'd get bored if most of what my character could do was more or less the same at level 7 as it was at level 20.
I guess I really disagree that monks at 7 are the same as monks at 20. Same could sorta be said for every martial character. Quivering palm changes things a ton though. There are some great non combat features in there as well. You might not value things like Tongue of S&M or Empty body but they have some fun RP implications. Perfect self is a big pile of meh though. You should just get 4 ki when you roll initiative (max 20). That'd have been alright. Our campaign ended around level 15 though so I don't have first hand knowledge beyond that. But honestly I was excited for every level up (except 15).
Im not sure about monk damage comparing even if we take out GWM and Sharpshooter. Maybe the shallow end of the same pool. But that is really getting into munchking territory. Im more just saying I'd get bored if most of what my character could do was more or less the same at level 7 as it was at level 20.
I did the math once and even with gwm the monk had better damage per round once you took AC into the equation. I don't think I did the same calculation for sharpshooter and the +2 bonus from archery, but they probably score a bit higher than both. I did the math for level 8 IIRC, because in reality it seems like very few campaigns go beyond level 10-ish, and it turned out for 1-10 the damage of monks is pretty good.
And tbf even if archery might be better, if you're using a bow the only thing you're doing in combat for that campaign is probably going to be firing arrows. I imagine that's going to grow old after a while.
Here is my study of the potential damage of classes with added class features and feats. I also noticed that the Ranger has the lowest damage among the combat classes, but it probably catches up a little bit with the subclasses. My conclusion is that apart from the warrior and paladin the other classes are fairly balanced if you don't add the feats. The feats are weighted solely for some classes. An example is the barbarian's Reckless Attack and GWM feat, or the cantrips with sneak attack of the Rogue .... If you see something wrong please let me know.
If you are a Shadow monk, D&D beyond allows you ti chiose the eldricht adept feat. Feats not allowed are not displayed in the character app. So, you can take It.
Here is my study of the potential damage of classes with added class features and feats. I also noticed that the Ranger has the lowest damage among the combat classes, but it probably catches up a little bit with the subclasses. My conclusion is that apart from the warrior and paladin the other classes are fairly balanced if you don't add the feats. The feats are weighted solely for some classes. An example is the barbarian's Reckless Attack and GWM feat, or the cantrips with sneak attack of the Rogue .... If you see something wrong please let me know.
I have to commend you for your effort, that said there's a few calculations here that are straight up illegal if you follow the rules (there's no way to get hunter's mark, crossbow expert and sharpshooter by level 5). Once you start comparing damage with GWM and SS in mind you also have to take enemy armor class into consideration, or another way to account for the loss of accuracy. If you do that monk will come out stronger. You'll also have to consider setup at a certain point; Crossbow expert and hunter's mark won't be working at full force before the 2nd round and even if the damage is higher damage now is better than damage later. Equally Flurry of Blows + hunter's mark is good on paper, but generally not worth it as 1 round of 2 attacks and hunter's mark and 1 round with hunter's mark on all 4 attacks has to be compared to not 1 but 2 rounds of attacks and flurries. If you get hit once you'll also have to roll concentration, and with a +2 to con that's a 40% chance to fail.
To get a full picture you also have to consider subclasses. Rangers might be bad as a base class but it has plenty of strong subclasses. A level 5 gloomstalker could be making 2 SS attacks (3 in the first round) with hunter's mark, at advantage if they are in darkness (admittedly my DM's rarely use no-light conditions). The samurai and battlemaster both have ways to negate the GWM or SS penalty.
Anyway, here's how I think monk holds up in dmg:
Fighter: GMW,PAM Battlemaster lvl 5 with a glaive:
+6 to Hit VS 15 AC (Suggested AC for a CR5 creature)
1st attack: Trip attack: +6 6 (1d10 wGWF)+3(Str Modifier)+4,5(Superiority Die)=13,5 55% chance to hit
2nd attack: GWM w/adv +1 6+3+10=19 51% chance to hit
3rd attack: Butt attack +1 3+3+10=16 51% chance to hit
Average: 13,5*0,55+19*0,51+16*0,51=25, if you take crit chance into consideration It'll be closer to 30.
Monk:
2x +6 to hit 1d10+4 2x1d6+4
Average: 2*(5,5+4)*0,55+2*(3,5+4)*0,55= 18,7
I take it back, the monk sucks. There are things you could do to tip it in the monks favour..If the trip attack fails the fighter could make normal attacks, landing the average dmg at 17,46, but the battlemaster could use precision attacks or do other things beyond damage.
If you are a Shadow monk, D&D beyond allows you ti chiose the eldricht adept feat. Feats not allowed are not displayed in the character app. So, you can take It.
This is a limitation of the Character Builder or a bug. The builder has been known to not fully incorporate all features/restrictions from the books. Either way, Shadow monks actually do not qualify for Eldritch Adept.
For example, RAW Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul Sorcerers can swap out their additional spell list spells. The builder does not allow you to do this. The way you can do this is to homebrew a version of those two sorcerer subclasses so then change the spells you want. But the default builder does not allow you to do this. Does that mean Aberrant Mind cannot change their Psionic spells even though the book says they can?
However, for pratical reasons I still prefer to let the app make the rules. So, Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul cannot swap out their spell list and monks can take the eldricht adept feat.
Keep in mind that while it may make it easier for you as a DM, you are allowing a player to do something that they should not be able to (the shadow monk part is not a problem), but also preventing a player from doing something that they are supposed to be able to do (not letting an Aberrant Mind change their spells IS a problem, one they should not have to bear with just because of a still incomplete app).
Keep in mind that while it may make it easier for you as a DM, you are allowing a player to do something that they should not be able to (the shadow monk part is not a problem), but also preventing a player from doing something that they are supposed to be able to do (not letting an Aberrant Mind change their spells IS a problem, one they should not have to bear with just because of a still incomplete app).
it's also super easy to do by creating a homebrew subclass that uses the existing one as a template. Takes maybe 5 minutes.
I use homebrews with another DM. He allows more spells for sorcerers and I found it nice as player, but extremely complicated to adapt the app to this rule. Most of the problems arise when you do not play the campaign for long and try to remember what and how was done.
Well, unfortunately shadow monk's (or monks of any kind) cannot take the Eldritch Adept feat. EA specifically requires the spellcasting or pact magic class features, which shadow monks do not have. Being able to cast spells using Ki is considered a different thing by the game.
It is not broken however. Warlocks have been doing it this whole time without needing to take a feat.
I would ask your DM about it. I think it's a fine homebrew to allow from a power level perspective and it matches the flavor of the shadow monk well.
Well, unfortunately shadow monk's (or monks of any kind) cannot take the Eldritch Adept feat. EA specifically requires the spellcasting or pact magic class features, which shadow monks do not have. Being able to cast spells using Ki is considered a different thing by the game.
It is not broken however. Warlocks have been doing it this whole time without needing to take a feat.
I would ask your DM about it. I think it's a fine homebrew to allow from a power level perspective and it matches the flavor of the shadow monk well.
Just take the blindfighting feat
That is an option but it’s only 10’ so is greatly limited compared to radius of Darkness and the shadow monk’s Shadow Step feature.
Depends on what you are taking the level of rogue for. Just remember that sneak attack does not work with unarmed strikes or monk weapons that don’t already have the finesse property (the martial arts feature doesn’t count).
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Did I mention my Monk is a Bugbear.
A level of rogue isn't terribly useful. 2 levels for cunning action or 3 for a subclass might be worthwhile, and possibly help conserve ki points by giving you free abilities and other resources for a mostly straight monk character.
Honestly, after 7 levels of monk there isn't a lot of new stuff coming your way. I might stick it out for the ASI at level 8, or keep up if I really want Quivering Palm at level 17.
But I know I'd be tempted to start multi-classing like crazy at level 5 or 6. Take 4 or so levels of Fighter for Battle Master maneuvers, action surge, and a fighting style. Take a bunch of Rogue Mastermind levels for Sneak Attack and some Batman like abilities. Maybe even dip Ranger for some spells and early class features.
Thats just me though, I assume I won't get those super late campaign abilities and I like hoarding effects and buttons to push earlier in the campaign.
I disagree with this. From my experience, once monks hit level 8 or 9, ki starts becoming less of a thing you need to worry about conserving. You can do something with it basically every turn and still hit a short rest with a few left over. Also I found that evasion was really strong. I didn't care if a fireball got dropped on me because i probably not going to take damage from it. Even if I did, it'd only be half and probably hurt the enemies a whole lot more. Stillness of mind should have been a bonus action but it's not awful when you need it. Unarmored movement improvement can be a lot of fun and is definitely good for exploration or engaging an enemy that would otherwise be hard to get to. 11 gets you a small buff to your unarmed strikes which is nice. Tongue of the Sun and Moon can be great and a lot of fun. You don't have the persuasion or social skills but you can literally talk to anything that knows any language. It can be worth trying to persuade that elemental from leaving you alone. When it works, you're a hero. Situational and probably could have come earlier, but it's a nice feature. If you make it to 13, you're going to LOVE 14. Diamond soul is amazing and basically turns you into the best anti-caster character in the game. You can get in their face better than any character and shrug off spells unbelievably well.
Monk damage does kinda plateau around level 11 which is unfortunate. A lot of that has to do with the major lack of magic items and feats that augment unarmed strikes. Crusher could be great if you have an odd constitution though. Mage slayer was fun on my monk to lean even harder into that FU casters role. Monks are just missing that feat like sharpshooter or great weapon master though. Those feats just make characters so much stronger and the monk misses those. That's honestly the biggest issue. ONE DND is currently nerfing those feats and honestly it's much needed. Every character ever takes them if they can and it's kinda boring. Without those, Monks damage is comparatively pretty decent.
Your ki pool also goes further if you have other features to spam. Like not needing to use step of the wind because you have cunning action.
I don't know why you name Evasion and Stillness of Mind at all, since I said you get great stuff up till the level where you get those features.
Diamond Soul is nice, but you have to take 6 levels where you get very little in class features. Tongue of Sun and Moon could be occasionally useful, but its basically the equivalent of a spell most casters could get back 9 levels before, which usually bodes poorly for a feature's usefulness. Most classes are front loaded, but that 8-14 section for monks is just an especially bland period, and 15+ is pretty lack luster too.
Im not sure about monk damage comparing even if we take out GWM and Sharpshooter. Maybe the shallow end of the same pool. But that is really getting into munchking territory. Im more just saying I'd get bored if most of what my character could do was more or less the same at level 7 as it was at level 20.
Looking forward to monk getting some love in One DND, beyond just nerfing some OP feats.
I thought you were advocating skipping 7 too. My bad.
8-13 does get a little stale. It's tricky though. If you're level 7, ASI at 8. If you're 8, a super fun ability at 9. Go that far, you're only 2 levels away from a subclass feature and d8s on your attacks. All while getting more Ki. Make it to 11, 12 is another ASI. Make it to 12, Diamond Soul is only 2 levels away. Sure, you could get a few sneak attack dice by skipping all that, but it's a tradeoff and that really comes down to preference. (granted, not all 11 abilities are good though, so it might be easier to skip for some).
In general I don't hate monks as much as most people. I think they can be a ton of fun and Tasha's adding Ki Fueled attack and Focused Aim made up some of the ground. They work very well together. Miss? Spend a Ki and hit (potentially - I wouldn't abuse this until higher levels though). Now you can make another weapon attack as a bonus action. Better mathematically then just using the point to FOB.
I agree more needs to happen and hope Monks get good things from ONE DND. I'd love to see less reliance on Ki in subclass features. I'd love to see Tongue of the Sun and Moon move down into the single digits and add an unarmed feat and some items. Maybe even nerf stunning strike to once per turn but make it a wisdom save. That'd open up options for adding power elsewhere.
Pretty easy calculation. Assume a Fighter with great sword vs a Monk with a literally whatever doesn't matter.
Fighters tend to get a bit more damage from their subclasses than monks do so they'll likely pull a bit ahead. They also get action surge. Assume a battle master using all the superiority die to add damage and action surge, over 11 rounds, the Fighter will do about 5-10% more damage. That's probably the best subclass to up the damage but I dunno it's late. The tradeoff is Monks can do a ton of other stuff rather than swing a sword and are the kings and queens of mobility.
One big difference is the cool magic sword the fighter has he can use 3 times in his attacks where the Monk can only use it twice. There aren't many official items that make unarmed attacks better. If you figure GWM, Fighter pulls well ahead, especially if both characters can reliably get advantage. Monks lack a feat like that.
There is one outlier though. The Kensei ranged monk is one character that can take sharpshooter and will do bonkers damage. All because of Ki-Fueled attack and deft strike. 3 attacks starting at level 6 (although only 6 times). This monk would pull well ahead of the battlemaster until 11 when the kensei would only be slightly ahead (I think, haven't done math). 20 fighter would pull ahead probably though. That's just one specific monk build that is kinda nutty though.
I guess I really disagree that monks at 7 are the same as monks at 20. Same could sorta be said for every martial character. Quivering palm changes things a ton though. There are some great non combat features in there as well. You might not value things like Tongue of S&M or Empty body but they have some fun RP implications. Perfect self is a big pile of meh though. You should just get 4 ki when you roll initiative (max 20). That'd have been alright. Our campaign ended around level 15 though so I don't have first hand knowledge beyond that. But honestly I was excited for every level up (except 15).
I did the math once and even with gwm the monk had better damage per round once you took AC into the equation. I don't think I did the same calculation for sharpshooter and the +2 bonus from archery, but they probably score a bit higher than both. I did the math for level 8 IIRC, because in reality it seems like very few campaigns go beyond level 10-ish, and it turned out for 1-10 the damage of monks is pretty good.
And tbf even if archery might be better, if you're using a bow the only thing you're doing in combat for that campaign is probably going to be firing arrows. I imagine that's going to grow old after a while.
Here is my study of the potential damage of classes with added class features and feats. I also noticed that the Ranger has the lowest damage among the combat classes, but it probably catches up a little bit with the subclasses. My conclusion is that apart from the warrior and paladin the other classes are fairly balanced if you don't add the feats. The feats are weighted solely for some classes. An example is the barbarian's Reckless Attack and GWM feat, or the cantrips with sneak attack of the Rogue .... If you see something wrong please let me know.
Fighter
Fighter 1st level
1d12 + 3 / = ~9
Crossbow Expert
2d10 + (3x2) = ~16
Fighter 5th level (MW+1)
2d12 + (3x2) +2 = ~20 / ~40 (Action Surge)
Crossbow Expert + Hunter's Mark:
3d10 + (3x3) + 3d6 +3 = ~36 / ~60 AS
CE + HM + Archery + Sharpshooter:
~36 + (10x3) = ~66 / ~80 AS
Fighter 11th level (MW+2)
3d12 + (4x3) +6 = ~36 / ~72 AS
Crossbow Expert + Hunter's Mark:
4d10 + (4x4) + 4d6 +8 = ~56 / ~98 AS
CE + HM + Archery + Sharpshooter:
~56 + (10x4) = ~96 / ~128 AS
Fighter 17th level (MW+3)
3d12 + (5x3) +9 = ~42 / ~84 AS
Crossbow Expert + Hunter's Mark:
4d10 + (5x4) + 4d6 +12 = ~64 / ~112 AS
CE + HM + Archery + Sharpshooter:
~64 + (10x4) = ~104 / ~182 AS
Fighter 20th level (MW+3)
4d12 + (5x4) +12 = ~56 / ~112 AS
Crossbow Expert + Hunter's Mark:
5d10 + (5x5) + 5d6 +15 = ~80 / ~144 AS
CE + HM + Archery + Sharpshooter:
~80 + (10x5) = ~130 / ~234 AS
Barbarian
Barbarian 1st level
1d12 + 3 / +2 = ~9 / ~11 Rage (~17 Critic)
Polearm Master:
1d10 + 1d4 + (3x2) / + (2x2) = ~13 / ~17 Rage (~22 Critic)
Barbarian 5th level (MW+1)
2d12 + (3x2) +2 / + (2x2) = ~20 / ~24 Rage (~30 Critic)
PAM:
2d10 + 1d4 + (3x3) +3 / + (2x3) = ~24 / ~30 Rage (~35 Critic)
Great Weapon Master + RA + PAM:
~24 + (10x3) / + (2x3) = ~54 / ~60 Rage (~68 Critic)
Barbarian 11th level (MW+2)
2d12 + (4x2) +4 / + (3x2) = ~24 / ~30 Rage (~42 Critic)
PAM:
2d10 + 1d4 + (4x3) +6 / + (3x3) = ~30 / ~39 Rage (~49 Critic)
GWM + Reckless Attack + PAM:
~30 + (10x3) / + (3x3) = ~60 / ~69 Rage (~82 Critic)
Barbarian 17th level (MW+3)
2d12 + (5x2) +6 / + (4x2) = ~28 / ~36 Rage (~54 Critic)
PAM:
2d10 + 1d4 + (5x3) +9 / + (4x3) = ~36 / ~48 Rage (~68 Critic)
GWM + RA + PAM:
~36 + (10x3) / + (4x3) = ~66 / ~78 Rage (~101 Critic)
Barbarian 20th level (MW+3)
2d12 + (7x2) +6 / + (4x2) = ~32 / ~40 Rage (~58 Critic)
PAM:
2d10 + 1d4 + (7x3) +9 / + (4x3) = ~42 / ~54 Rage (~74 Critic)
GWM + RA + PAM:
~42 + (10x3) / + (4x3) = ~72 / ~84 Rage (~107 Critic)
Paladin
Paladin 1st level
1d12 + 3 = ~9
Polearm Master:
1d10 + 1d4 + (3x2) = ~13
Paladin 5th level (MW+1)
2d12 + (3x2) +2 / +6d8 = ~20 / ~44 (Divine Smite)
PAM / + Great Weapon Master:
2d10 + 1d4 + (3x3) +3 / + (10x3) = ~24 / ~54
Divine Smite + GWM + PAM:
~24 + 3d8 + 3d8 + 2d8 / + (10x3) = ~56 / ~86 (~106 Critic)
Paladin 11th level (MW+2)
2d12 + (4x2) +4 + 2d8 / + 8d8 = ~32 / ~64 (DS)
PAM / + GWM:
2d10 + 1d4 + (4x3) +6 + 3d8 / + (10x3) = ~42 / ~72
Divine Smite + GWM + PAM:
~42 + 4d8 + 4d8 + 4d8 / + (10x3) = ~90 / ~120 (~148 Critic)
Paladin 17th level (MW+3)
2d12 + (5x2) +6 + 2d8 / + 10d8 = ~36 / ~76 (DS)
PAM / + GWM:
2d10 + 1d4 + (5x3) +9 + 3d8 / + (10x3) = ~48 / ~78
Divine Smite + GWM + PAM:
~48 + 5d8 + 5d8 + 5d8 / + (10x3) = ~108 / ~138 (~170 Critic)
Paladin 20th level (MW+3)
2d12 + (5x2) +6 + 2d8 / + 10d8 = ~36 / ~76 (DS)
PAM / + GWM:
2d10 + 1d4 + (5x3) +9 + 3d8 / + (10x3) = ~48 / ~78
Divine Smite + GWM + PAM:
~48 + 5d8 + 5d8 + 5d8 / + (10x3) = ~108 / ~138 (~170 Critic)
Rogue
Rogue 1st level
1d8 + 1d6 (+3) = ~10 (~17 Critic)
Rogue 5th level (MW+1)
1d8 + 3d6 (+3) + 1 = ~17 (~30 Critic)
Two-Weapon Fighting:
5d6 + (3x2) + 2 = ~23 (~35 Critic)
Cantrip GFB - BB:
1d8 + 3d6 (+3) + 1 + 1d8 = ~21 (~38 Critic)
Savage Attacker + Cantrip GFB - BB:
2d8 + 3d6 + 4 (+5) = ~26 (~48 Critic)
Rogue 11th level (MW+2)
1d8 + 6d6 (+4) + 2 = ~28 (~50 Critic)
Two-Weapon Fighting:
8d6 + (4x2) (+4) = ~36 (~57 Critic)
Cantrip GFB - BB:
1d8 + 6d6 (+4) + 2 + 2d8 = ~36 (~66 Critic)
SA + Cantrip GFB - BB:
3d8 + 6d6 + 6 (+9) = ~45 (~84 Critic)
Rogue 17th level (MW+3)
1d8 + 9d6 (+5) + 3 = ~39 (~70 Critic)
Two-Weapon Fighting:
11d6 + (5x2) + 6 = ~49 (~79 Critic)
Cantrip GFB - BB:
1d8 + 9d6 (+5) + 3 + 3d8 = ~51 (~94 Critic)
SA + Cantrip GFB - BB:
4d8 + 9d6 + 8 (+13) = ~64 (~120 Critic)
Rogue 20th level (MW+3)
1d8 + 10d6 (+5) + 3 = ~42 (~76 Critic)
Two-Weapon Fighting:
12d6 + (5x2) + 6 = ~52 (~85 Critic)
Cantrip GFB - BB:
1d8 + 10d6 (+5) + 3 + 3d8 = ~54 (~100 Critic)
SA + Cantrip GFB - BB:
4d8 + 10d6 + 8 (+14) = ~68 (~128 Critic)
Monk
Monk 1st level
2d4 + (3x2) / 1d8 + 1d4 + (3x2) = ~10 / ~12
Monk 5th level (MW+1)
3d6 + (3x3) / 2d8 + 1d6 + (3x3) +3 = ~21 / ~23
1 ki: (Flurry of Blow):
~21 / ~23 + (1d6+3) +1 = ~28 / ~30
Hunter's Mark + (FoB):
~28 + 4d6 / ~30 + 3d6 = ~40 / ~42
Monk 11th level (MW+2)
3d8 + (4x3) +6 = ~30
1 ki: (Flurry of Blow):
~30 + (1d8+4) +2 = ~40
HM + (FoB):
~40 + 4d6 = 52
Monk 17th level (MW+3)
3d10 + (5x3) +9 = ~39
1 ki: (Flurry of Blow):
~39 + (1d10+5) +3 = ~52
HM + (FoB):
~52 + 4d6 = ~64
Monk 20th level (MW+3)
3d10 + (5x3) +9 = ~39
1 ki: (Flurry of Blow):
~39 + (1d10+5) +3 = ~52
HM + (FoB):
~52 + 4d6 = ~64
Ranger
Ranger 1st level
1d10 + 3 / + 1d4 = ~8 / ~10 Favored Foe
Ranger 5th level (MW+1)
2d10 + (3x2) +2 / + 1d4 = ~18 / ~20 FF
Crossbow Expert + Hunter's Mark:
3d10 + (3x3) + 3d6 +3 = ~36
CE + HM + Archery + Sharpshooter:
~36 + (10x3) = ~66
Ranger 11th level (MW+2)
2d10 + (4x2) +4 / + 1d6 = ~22 / ~25 FF
CE + HM:
3d10 + (4x3) + 3d6 +6 = ~42
CE + HM + A + S:
~42 + (10x3) = ~72
Ranger 17th level (MW+3)
2d10 + (5x2) +6 / + 1d8 = ~26 / ~30 FF
CE + HM:
3d10 + (5x3) + 3d6 +9 = ~47
CE + HM + A + S:
~47 + (10x3) = ~77
Ranger 20th level
2d10 + (5x2) +6 / + 1d8 +5 = ~26 / ~35 FF
CE + HM:
3d10 + (5x3) + 3d6 +9 = ~47
CE + HM + A + S:
~47 + (10x3) = ~77
I would ask your DM if you're able to take it since you can technically cast a spell. Otherwise RAW you can't.
If you are a Shadow monk, D&D beyond allows you ti chiose the eldricht adept feat. Feats not allowed are not displayed in the character app. So, you can take It.
MM
I have to commend you for your effort, that said there's a few calculations here that are straight up illegal if you follow the rules (there's no way to get hunter's mark, crossbow expert and sharpshooter by level 5). Once you start comparing damage with GWM and SS in mind you also have to take enemy armor class into consideration, or another way to account for the loss of accuracy. If you do that monk will come out stronger. You'll also have to consider setup at a certain point; Crossbow expert and hunter's mark won't be working at full force before the 2nd round and even if the damage is higher damage now is better than damage later. Equally Flurry of Blows + hunter's mark is good on paper, but generally not worth it as 1 round of 2 attacks and hunter's mark and 1 round with hunter's mark on all 4 attacks has to be compared to not 1 but 2 rounds of attacks and flurries. If you get hit once you'll also have to roll concentration, and with a +2 to con that's a 40% chance to fail.
To get a full picture you also have to consider subclasses. Rangers might be bad as a base class but it has plenty of strong subclasses. A level 5 gloomstalker could be making 2 SS attacks (3 in the first round) with hunter's mark, at advantage if they are in darkness (admittedly my DM's rarely use no-light conditions). The samurai and battlemaster both have ways to negate the GWM or SS penalty.
Anyway, here's how I think monk holds up in dmg:
Fighter: GMW,PAM Battlemaster lvl 5 with a glaive:
+6 to Hit VS 15 AC (Suggested AC for a CR5 creature)
1st attack: Trip attack: +6 6 (1d10 wGWF)+3(Str Modifier)+4,5(Superiority Die)=13,5 55% chance to hit
2nd attack: GWM w/adv +1 6+3+10=19 51% chance to hit
3rd attack: Butt attack +1 3+3+10=16 51% chance to hit
Average: 13,5*0,55+19*0,51+16*0,51=25, if you take crit chance into consideration It'll be closer to 30.
Monk:
2x +6 to hit 1d10+4 2x1d6+4
Average: 2*(5,5+4)*0,55+2*(3,5+4)*0,55= 18,7
I take it back, the monk sucks. There are things you could do to tip it in the monks favour..If the trip attack fails the fighter could make normal attacks, landing the average dmg at 17,46, but the battlemaster could use precision attacks or do other things beyond damage.
This is a limitation of the Character Builder or a bug. The builder has been known to not fully incorporate all features/restrictions from the books. Either way, Shadow monks actually do not qualify for Eldritch Adept.
For example, RAW Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul Sorcerers can swap out their additional spell list spells. The builder does not allow you to do this. The way you can do this is to homebrew a version of those two sorcerer subclasses so then change the spells you want. But the default builder does not allow you to do this. Does that mean Aberrant Mind cannot change their Psionic spells even though the book says they can?
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
You're right Indeed. There Is no doubt.
However, for pratical reasons I still prefer to let the app make the rules. So, Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul cannot swap out their spell list and monks can take the eldricht adept feat.
It's easier for me as DM, and also for other DMs.
MM
Keep in mind that while it may make it easier for you as a DM, you are allowing a player to do something that they should not be able to (the shadow monk part is not a problem), but also preventing a player from doing something that they are supposed to be able to do (not letting an Aberrant Mind change their spells IS a problem, one they should not have to bear with just because of a still incomplete app).
it's also super easy to do by creating a homebrew subclass that uses the existing one as a template. Takes maybe 5 minutes.
I use homebrews with another DM. He allows more spells for sorcerers and I found it nice as player, but extremely complicated to adapt the app to this rule. Most of the problems arise when you do not play the campaign for long and try to remember what and how was done.
MM
Just take the blindfighting feat
That is an option but it’s only 10’ so is greatly limited compared to radius of Darkness and the shadow monk’s Shadow Step feature.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Blindfight is useful for melee characters, while for a ranged you will need Devil's Sight.
MM